From the Origins of Cape Town

Sir Francis Drake declared it the “Fairest Cape of them all” when he rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1577 in search of the fabled spice route to India and I agree, it is truly a beautiful city, tucked neatly in a natural harbour, protected by an iconic mountain.

With such a beautiful city, there of course is always an interesting history and I thought I would share a brief overview of the trials and tribulations of the “Mother City” of South Africa.

Although many passed by the Cape of Good Hope, it wasn’t until 1652 when the Dutch man Jan Van Riebeeck, a member of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) arrived in the Cape and settled down to create a service station to supply fresh fruit and vegetables to all the passing ships that the European / colonial expansion really began in South Africa.

Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in the Cape with 3 ships – Reijer, Dromedaris and Goede Hoop, accompanied by 82 men and 8 women (including Maria de la Quellerie, his wife). The Walvisch and the Oliphant ships arrived later, having experienced a really bad sea voyage where they were forced to bury 130 souls at sea, many due to the dreaded disease “scurvy”. Until their arrival the land had mainly been dominated by the Hottentots and Khoi San, local hunter gather tribes.

With the arrival of the new settlers, a whole new society was created in this new and exciting “De Kaap”. A truly eclectic mix of cultures, races and religions.

Initially the VOC had no desire to conquer or colonise the land (they didn’t want the administrative headache), they only wanted a fresh fruit and vegetable supply, however with war breaking out between the Dutch Republic and England, there was intense pressure to obtain as much land as possible to help supply the war relief.

To ensure the security of the foundling land, Jan set about building a fortress in Cape Town, right on the sea, he named it after the first ship to arrive in the Cape – de Goede Hoop – and made it of mud, clay and timber, with 4 corners named after the first 4 ships to arrive in the Cape. (The Castle of Good Hope is still standing today on Adderly Street in Cape Town, with the recession of the sea and the land reclaiming in Cape Town, it is now located more inland than it would have been when it was originally built. It is the best surviving example of VOC architecture and the oldest building in Cape Town)